TaxCOOP

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TaxCOOP is an international conference focused on advancing inclusivity in tax policy discourse around global tax reform as well as highlighting good tax policy.

TaxCOOP is a new
entry this year

The movement was founded in 2015 by filmmaker and tax policy
adviser, Brigitte Alepin; taxation professor, Allison
Christians; tax policy adviser, Lyne Latulippe; and adjunct
professor, Louise Otis. The four women are dedicated to
combating harmful tax practices, specifically tax competition.
Through TaxCOOP, they are offering tax leaders and
organisations a neutral convention at which to discuss global
tax initiatives and engage the wider public.

It was back in 2005 that Alepin, who herself was named in
the Global Tax 50 in 2015, began to think about a conference
that would discuss tax competition and cooperation. She had
been at Harvard doing research on how to adapt the
international tax system to globalisation and, at the time, had
thought for sure that in the near future either the OECD or the
UN would start a global conference on these issues. But after
seven years with no conference in sight, she went to the
Ordre des CPA du Québec (Quebec Chartered
Professional Accountants Order) to ask for assistance in
developing a global conference exclusively designed to reflect
on issues of tax competition, discover new initiatives and hear
what world experts have to say. By this point, Alepin had
written two books, entitled 'The Wealthy Who Pay No Taxes' and
the 'Coming Fiscal Crisis', and written and directed an
award-winning film, 'The Price We Pay', in collaboration with
director Harold Crooks. Moreover, she had been mandated by the
Canadian government to find a solution to global tax issues
– so it was no surprise when she got the go-ahead for
the first TaxCOOP conference in Montreal in 2015.

Since then, the founders' dream of travelling the conference
around the world has become a reality. In 2016, TaxCOOP was
hosted at the World Bank in Washington, and in 2017 at the UN
in Geneva. There are ambitions to hold it at the OECD in Paris
in 2018, and in London and Montreal in 2019 and 2020,
respectively.

The success of the debut conference saw TaxCOOP's profile
grow, and its team has expanded in response. "If we want to
modernise the tax system we have to work as a team," Alepin
tells International Tax Review. The combination of
Christian's technical understanding of taxation, Latulippe's
hands-on approach and Otis's established connections in the
industry have made TaxCOOP a force to be reckoned with. "It's a
dream team," Alepin says, citing their ability to bring
together high-profile business leaders and think tanks to
participate in debates and discussions to extend the frontier
of knowledge in global taxation. But Alepin thinks "it's still
quite surprising that no one is really discussing tax
competition at the level we would like".

TaxCOOP has brought together finance ministers,
entrepreneurs, government officials and non-governmental
organisations and academics to create an open dialogue on tax
equity. Alepin says she is most proud of how the forum's work
actively engages young people. "I needed to build a project
that could reach the universities to give the younger
generations the opportunity to participate, so I thought about
the forum on the next generation," Alepin says. "This year's
forum was designed to discuss tax ethics with the youth to
encourage interest, with live online streaming and an
eight-year-old tax expert, Carlie Weinreb, on the panel. "We
want to modernise the tax system and if we say want to do it
for the next generation we should include them in the
conversation," Alepin says.

Alepin also highlights the debate on tax transparency
between contributors from a diverse range of backgrounds as
being a particularly proud moment. "This year's debate at the
TaxCOOP was the first time I felt it was a real debate," Alepin
says. The outcome of the debate being that all panellists
agreed on the overall adoption of tax transparency requirements
as beneficial to tax administrations, essential to control
compliance and useful information to the public.

Allowing ideas to evolve through the collaboration of those
with diverse perspectives ultimately brings together the range
of stakeholders from different ends of the spectrum. "It's not
difficult to convince the head of tax to speak about tax to the
International Fiscal Association, but to have business leaders
speak about tax at the UN is a real achievement," Alepin
says.

TaxCOOP will be releasing a new book, inspired by events
from the conference in 2016, called 'Winning the Tax Wars'. It
focuses on seminars at the World Bank about how developing
countries can fight tax competition to stop businesses
undermining their ability to build state capacity. In an
ever-changing social, political and economic environment, the
TaxCOOP signifies a crucial influence in global tax reform.
After all, it's not just a conference; it's a place where
solutions can be made for global tax issues.